


Lousy Neighbors

by orphan_account



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: All the Smut, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angry Percy, Apartment, Fluff, M/M, Nico is a Dork, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Percico - Freeform, Rain scenes, Smut, Wow, that's an actual tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-13
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-02-20 20:06:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2441303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Nico Di Angelo moves into a new apartment, he discovers that above his room lives an elephant with shotguns for legs. Wait- that can't be right. Regardless of whether the thing living above him is a beast or a human, Nico hates his new-found neighbor. That is, until he meets this "thing" face-to-face and is entranced by its sea-green eyes and wind-swept obsidian black hair- wait. WHAT?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Art of Screwing Up

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody, my name is Aster.  
> This is my first work piece that I've published on this site, but I do hope to post as many stories as I can on here. :3 This hunk of work took me a while to make and I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also, this story will put you in the POV of Nico.  
> But for now, take a dorky Nico. Because he's a cute sonofabitch. Love em'.  
> (who doesn't?) Also, the smut will come later in scenes. Gomen~ I prefer my porn with plot...  
> Hope you enjoy!! :33

The second Nico Di Angelo witnessed his only radio fall out of his window, he knew he was royally fucked. The lovely device was bought the exact day he moved into his new apartment. Which, much to his dismay, was exactly two weeks ago. Why he bought it? Nico loved music, of course, but that wasn't the main reason. He bought the radio to block out the ruckus coming from the room directly above his. Because not only did the guy upstairs constantly sound like a wet elephant jumping on a trampoline, but he was potentially the reason as to why Nico slept at five in the morning every day. Normally, that would be a walk in the park to Nico, but the asshole upstairs seriously wouldn't let up. And Nico needed sleep. Well, it's not really like he needed sleep. He just wanted to be dead to the world for a few hours before going back to his normal, shitty routine.

But nothing could have been shittier than the situation displayed in front of him. His radio was broken into so many pieces that not even his good friend Leo Valdez could fix it. And as far as he knew, the kid could fix almost everything. But his radio was beyond saving. His favorite CD had suffered a minor blow, only , but the player was in ruins. Gears broken into two, buttons cracked and lay like pieces of a shattered mirror. It was like someone from Ikea disassembled the radio and put every piece through a blender.

Nico's bitter thoughts were put to rest when he felt a strong vibration in his left pocket. The source was from his phone, and much to his surprise, the caller was someone that he actually wanted to hear from. Leo, A.K.A. The kid that could fix almost everything except his now broken radio. Now that he thought of it, Nico didn't know why he wanted to hear from Leo. Oh well, Nico thought, maybe I just need some comedic relief to put this shitty day to a halt. Putting the phone to his ear, Nico answered, "Thank you for gracing me with your presence, Valdez." The boy on the other line laughed, the volume of his voice damn near deafening. "Either you're having a really bad day or you just realized how legendary I am." 

Nico smirked, despite his previous sour mood. "If it was the latter, I probably would have sent myself to some correction camp," he could almost hear Leo pouting on the other line. "How's camp by the way?" A risky question to ask, but Nico felt some confidence building in his gut. And he wasn't gonna let that go to waste. 

On the other line, Leo sighed, "Fun. As usual. You would think that this place would be some kind of heaven for me, but all the builders here are so intermediate," Leo said that last word like he was regarding a horse trying to build a tower using micro-sized legos. The image painted in Nico’s head caused him to let out a chuckle, causing Leo to continue, his comedic voice condescending, "No, really. Nico, the guys here don't even know what a 'pickle fork' is."  
"Leo, not even I know what a pickle fork is-”, Nico cut into Leo’s sentence,

"That isn't the problem! These people put the literal 'monkey' in 'greasemonkey'. I’m telling you, complete idiots!"

"It takes one to know one, Valdez. Let that sink in."

Leo muttered something under his breath that Nico probably didn't want to hear. But the angered reaction spurred him. At least someone else knew how he felt. First the radio and later he'd have to deal with the banshee upstairs. Hell, if Nico had half a mind, he'd scream all day too. This world has enough problems and two screaming banshees in one apartment building was the least of its worries.

After a moment, Leo spoke up again, his voice as happy as it had been when they began their conversation, "About your bad day. What happened?". 

Nico was just about to kill Leo's happy tone of voice with a toxic comment to his idiocy, but he bit back his comment, only gritting out, "My radio is as broken as Obama care." The analogy sent Leo into another fit of laughter and an unwelcome smile crept up on Nico's face. Maybe Leo was contagious with his happiness. 

After Leo managed to stop laughing and regain his breath, he spoke, "How? Did you fling it out the window or something?". Nico flinched. Both at Leo's accuracy- except for the part of him flinging his own radio out the window, as if he'd do such a thing- and at the sudden loud bang of the apartment complex's main door shutting behind him. He was about to put Leo on hold and maybe string a few words of sense to the guy with no respect to the fact that Nico was on the phone, but as his gaze met with vibrant eyes, Nico suddenly felt at a loss for words. The guy in front of him looked like he hadn't seen the light for days, his hair unkempt and his clothes seemed like they were put on at last minute, but his eyes were like the sea. A beautiful mix of emerald and turquoise twisting in the sunlight's gaze. Nico was damn near sure that he was staring for longer than a second, and when Nico felt heat crawling up to his face, he quickly turned away. He was sure that any minute he would have a cardiac arrest, because his heart had never beat so fast before.

"Nico?" Leo's distant voice called from the phone. 

Nico pressed said phone to his ear, "Sorry. I got distracted by something." Nico made sure his voice was loud enough for the guy behind him to hear, purposely making his voice sound like he was going to explode any minute. That, of course, would have been easy if only the guy's eyes hadn't made his cold heart melt like dry-ice on an Australian driveway. Seconds later, Nico heard a low chuckle, but the voice didn't come from Leo. Nico turned around again, this time only to be met with a smile brighter than lightning. The "adonis" in front of him was smiling, his face flushed a beautiful pink. 

"Sorry about that, I didn't really mean to annoy you..." The man's sentence muttered out into a bunch of apologies, none of which Nico listened to. This guy's eyes were just too damn distracting. In a fit of his own words, the man coughed, which brought Nico's attention away from his eyes. Suddenly the man let out his hand, "I'm Percy Jackson. And you?". Given Percy were another person, Nico would have scowled at the guy and maybe punched him in the gut, but something about him was alluring. Of course, Nico felt the urge to punch Percy in the gut for being so damn attractive, but he digressed, taking Percy's hand in the most friendly way he could muster and shaking it, "My name's Nico Di Angelo."


	2. Everyone Makes Miracles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before Nico can even begin to register the fact that yes, he is nodding his head, and yes, he has agreed to kiss the adonis in front of him, Percy leans in close. He can’t look away from those absolutely beautiful thin pink lips even as they linger millimeters away from his own. He’s also fully aware that yes this is such a fucking shoujo manga cliche. But he revels in it. Cliche and all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SUCH TRASH I KNOW  
> I haven't updated in such a long time, but since it's summer vacation for me, I hope that I can update more nerdy Nico and Persassy for you guys. : )  
> I finished this chapter at 6:09 am because fuck sleep I love these two.  
> And, if there are any mistakes be sure to message me or comment, because I really want to make this fanfic the best it can be. : )  
> Thank you guys for being patient with me, and my writing. So without further adieus...  
> Have a lovely time reading!!  
> -Aster S.

Nico has come to the conclusion that maybe Mother Nature isn’t half as bad as he thinks. Even with the cold harsh winds of New York biting at his nose, Nico still deems the day better than most. Sure, his radio broke, but on the bright side, he met a really cute guy to make up for it. And “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction” that’s the saying right?

Wait. No.  
That’s Newton’s third law of motion.

Nico only realizes that his thoughts are elsewhere when Percy’s head tilts to one side. His dark locks fall slightly with the motion, eyes glimmering and glinting with a shade of green that Nico can’t even begin to describe. But that’s a good word for the enigma of a man in front of him. Indescribable. Beautiful cannot begin to explain his looks. Words alone cannot express how much he wants to figure out the reasons behind the feigned happiness behind those viridian eyes. It’s a simple kind of beauty that Percy wields and every little action he does is making Nico turn into a blushing school-girl on the inside.

A confused voice snaps Nico out of his reverie. Nico’s face reddens with the realization that his name had been called several times.  
“Um.. Nico, you there?” Percy waves a hand in his general direction, giving Nico a little smirk that makes his heart flutter. _No one has ever had this kind affect on him._

“Sorry, I was just-” Nico’s mind desperately tries to think of an excuse, because saying that he was thinking about how cute Percy is was definitely going to scare him off. He blurts out the first thing that comes to mind and isn’t able to evaluate how stupid he sounds before it’s already escaped him. “Science.”

Unfortunately, his brain functions fail to rationalize anything coming out his mouth.

“Science?”

Nico wants to dig a hole and die in it. 

“Yeah, science. Like Newton’s laws of motion and shit like that.” He’s surprised that Percy is still looking at him with a genuine smile and not a look of utter repugnance. Either this guy is a real keeper or is too stupid to notice Nico’s obvious excuse. And by the faraway look in Percy’s beautiful emerald eyes- Nico did not just think that -

“Are you a science major?” Pulling away from his concerning thoughts, Nico nodded. He was on his second year at college and was living in his boyfriend’s apartment until recently. Until they broke up. Or more like, _until Will moved away without so much as a goodbye._

The gloomy thought had prompted a very awkward silence between the two. And Nico’s pretty sure that the awkward silence would have served as their own personal anthem until Percy seemingly jerked with sudden realization. Jade eyes widened with mortification and suddenly Nico found himself being pulled into the nearest store with Percy’s hand wrapped around his like a vice.

“What the fuck?” is the immediate reaction that Nico gives Percy when he is pulled behind a clothing rack for women’s cardigans. Despite the fact that his heart is racing a mile a minute and his whole entire body feels like it is lit on fire, he still has at least one part of his brain thinking rationally.

Percy swallows, his adams apple bobbing with the action (and for some odd reason Nico’s eyes follow the motion). He pants and tries to compose himself, but there is obviously something disturbing him. And it isn’t really hard for Nico to come to the conclusion that Percy’s trying to hide (or run) from someone considering the fact that he is “indiscreetly” standing on his tippy toes to look for the said person he may be hiding from. Beautiful emerald eyes stop in their plight of searching to stare into Nico’s. “Look,” Percy says, his voice laced with urgency and excitement. “I know this is really sudden. But I kinda see my ex… and it would be absolutely fucking fantastic if I could kiss you.”

Oh.  
_Shit._

Wait. There’s an ex?

Before Nico can even begin to register the fact that yes, he is nodding his head, and yes, he has agreed to kiss the adonis in front of him, Percy leans in close. He can’t look away from those absolutely beautiful thin pink lips even as they linger millimeters away from his own. He’s also fully aware that yes this is such a fucking shoujo manga cliche. But he _revels in it_. Cliche and all.

“Are you sure this is okay?” is Percy’s last question. He is giving Nico the option to back out of this, to walk away in what most likely will be the most awkward interaction he’s ever had with any other human.

But Nico isn’t a quitter.  
Quite the opposite, in fact.

He proves this pointedly by wrapping his arms around Percy’s neck and whispering, “Just fucking do it, you idiot.” Percy’s eyes light up like fireworks, different shades of green exploding in a mix of elation and apprehension. He leans in again, lips brushing softly against Nico’s.

 _And that’s when sparks fly._  
Quite literally. 

A loud shattering sound erupts from directly above the both of them, and the noise is followed by small fragments of glass showering above their heads.

Percy yells several unintelligible words and also what Nico thinks is some fish breeds. He then grabs Nico’s hand and pulls him out of harm’s way because Nico has not moved and cannot move because he now has a firm belief that the world must hate him.

Fuck Mother Nature.  
Fuck Newton’s laws of motion.

Because he was about to receive the best kiss in his life-time goddammit.

“Fucking shitty anchovy motherfucker,” Percy’s muttering weird obscenities and Nico stays silent. Even while the nearest store clerk apologizes, he’s still silent with bitterness taking away his ability to speak. He only speaks when he feels Percy’s hand running through his hair, brushing off the small pieces of glass.

Actually, he doesn’t speak.  
He just makes an unintelligible noise.  
And much to Nico’s horror, it sounds way too much like a whine.

Percy’s face flushes a deep red at the sound, a blush creeping down his neck as he retracts his hand slowly, looking away from Nico. The store clerk’s furious apologies while cleaning cuts off the awkward silence between the two.

“I’m so sorry sir! You can talk to my boss if you want to file a complaint, but I swear we just got these replaced-”

“Percy?”

Percy jerks at the name, and Nico only has to turn his head slightly to see the man that called out Percy’s name. The man’s hair is platinum blonde and despite the scar running down his face, he’s gorgeous. Pale skin complementing his nearly blemish-free face; not to mention his enviable build. And although he’s not as beautiful as Percy, he’s still a sight for sore eyes; the woman clinging onto his arm is of an equal beauty.

“O-oh. Luke. Annabeth. Nice to see you guys. Long time no see, huh?” Percy’s voice is obviously as stiff as wood and Nico can’t help but feel bad for the man. And then he remembers. _Percy said something about having an ex, right?_ The realization dawns on him that one of the people standing before them is Percy’s ex and it makes Nico shrink both mentally and physically.

 _There’s no way in hell he would go for someone like me,_ Nico thinks bitterly. And honestly, he’s about _this close_ to leaving the store and Percy, but then he hears Percy mention his name in the middle of his sentence. “Right Nico?”

All he can do is nod dumbly, because he has no clue what Percy just said. 

“Well um,” Percy rubs the back of his neck before directing his eyes towards Nico in alarm, “We’d best be on our way, kind of on a fun little date around town, you know?”

The man- Percy called him Luke- smiles softly, but with the way his eyebrows furrow slightly, he looks conflicted. “Yeah. See you around, Percy.” The woman clinging to his arm gives Percy a warm grin, before tugging Luke away to a different section of the shop.

Once the two were out of his sight, Percy takes Nico by the hand and drags him out of the store. Nico hasn’t spoken since the kiss (it still counts, kinda) and just the thought of being dragged somewhere else that could potentially make his and Percy’s relationship more awkward makes his heart beat faster in distress rather than delight.

“Where are we going?” Nico’s voice sounds strained and has a lot more venom in his words than he intended. Percy stops abruptly to stare at Nico, hands still intertwined, but then he continues to walk ahead despite Nico’s protests, only stopping once they’ve reached their destination.

Nico wants to yell, but finds the words stuck in his throat when he realizes where they are. Cherry Grove beach. The sun is setting on the horizon and Nico’s eyes are glued to where the water and sky meet.  
He barely feels Percy let go of his hand.  
He barely feels Percy pull him down to sit next to him.

“Thank you,” Percy whispers, careful to not disturb the calm atmosphere around them. Nico turns his head to look at Percy’s face, taking in the way his ocean-colored eyes seems so relaxed when they’re close to home, the way his hair swings with the wind, and the way his thin, pink lips curl into a slight smirk. He’s absolutely perfect.

And even Nico finds himself smiling when he says, “No problem, Percy,” Percy turns towards him upon hearing his name, blush evident on his sun-kissed skin. They sit there for what seems like an eternity, emerald eyes interacting with chocolate hues through silence.

Finally, Percy breaks the sweet silence. “Is there anyway I can repay you?”

Nico breaks out into a chuckle, the action having been foreign to him (he only ever laughs because of Leo’s idiocy, honestly). “Take me out on a date, impress me, and then maybe I’ll think about forgiving you for getting glass on me,”

“It’s not that hard to impress someone,” Percy says nonchalantly, hand coming up to push his hair out of his eyes.

“Is that a challenge, Jackson?”

“Maybe it is, Di Angelo.”

The two share mischievous smirks, eyes exchanging in a way that would be sinful, had this been any other situation. “Then you’re on.”

“Friday night at 8?”

“Friday night at 8.”


	3. Rubix Cubes and Misery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok so i can explain  
> like im terrible with updating but i really do thank you guys for the support and the really nice comments from everyone <3  
> I will try to my best abilities to post again and i promise that there won't be a full year between my updates this time bc i do not wanna be Tht Guy™  
> Anyways, I really do thank you guys for being awesome and supporting this fanfic despite the really long time between updates <3  
> I give you guys all my love. Kittyface.  
> ~Aster Soulis lol

Nico was surprised that he hadn’t burned a hole through his carpet by how much he had been pacing his apartment living room. For the past hour and a half, he was going through the routine of walking the width of the living space, wandering into the kitchen to grab a cup of water, then walking back into the living room; rinsing and repeating for a straight hour while his best friend stared at him with a look of pity from his designated spot on the carpet (only because Nico’s couches hadn’t even come in yet. And this is why he didn’t trust movers).

It was when Nico actually sat down at one of his kitchen stools, drinking a cup of cold water with more ice than water ( _to symbolize your cold, cold heart, _came a small voice in his head, sounding suspiciously like Leo) that he realized that it would be approximately 23 hours and 17 minutes (and 43 seconds, because Nico always liked to be exact) until he saw him again. And by _him, _he meant Mr. ‘Wind-Swept Hair And Gorgeous Eyes’. Analytically speaking, it would be wisest to spend most of those 23 hours thinking about all the ways that his date could go right, but just as mother nature hated Nico’s guts, his mind felt the same way. Honestly, Nico knew he was whipped, but he didn’t think that it would take such a negative toll on his life.____

One of these days, his brain would be the cause of his own undoing.

For most of Tuesday and Wednesday, he was _blessed _with pleasant and happy thoughts that gave him butterflies and made him throw up rainbows and _other shit like that. _His thoughts ran from maybe eating at a run-down pizza diner (because Percy totally seemed like the kind of person to bring him to one), watching the sunset, and surfing, to visiting a record shop and watching a movie at a drive-in theater with a giant strawberry milkshake being shared between them.____

 _ _ _ _Then Thursday morning came around and everything went to hell. Eating at a run-down pizza diner turned into throwing up on Percy’s lap, watching the sunset went from romantic to grimacing the fact that Nico usually got rashes after sitting on the sand for a long time (his ass itched for like, a week, all because of Jason and his stupid claims of “I swear I saw a shark and I want to wrestle it but please stay just in case I die”. Honestly, he just should have left him to drown), and surfing changed from cute to downright scary because he doesn’t know how to swim and knowing his luck, he would probably get caught in a horrible netting accident.____

 _ _ _ _

Nico has never wanted to fling himself into the sun. But now seemed like a good time to do exactly that.

Jason peered above his glasses, taking his eyes off of the solved rubix cube in his hand to look at Nico. He placed the toy on the ground and leaned back on his hands. “I can’t tell if you’re happy or angry or both,” The blonde teased, looking up at Nico, who was directing a scowl towards him. Jason smiled, the glare being rendered useless at the bright beam that was Jason’s expression.

“I honestly can’t tell either,” He groaned, pulling a pillow off the small pillow fort that Jason had made by himself earlier while watching Nico pace and took a seat next to Jason. “Do you think I’m handling this badly?” He asked, looking at his best-friend with an awfully pink face and red ears.

Jason took one look at him and snorted, a hand flying over his mouth to stifle his laughter, “Honestly, I think you would handle McDonalds going out of business better than this-”

If looks could kill, it was a miracle that Jason was alive. 

“That’s not possible.”

Jason looked at Nico as if he had just asked him to lick the bottom of a shoe. “It absolutely is. I have a front row seat to your misery, princess.”

“It can’t be that bad- wait, what did you just call me?” Nico called, the nickname absolutely not lost in Jason’s statement.

Jason disregarded Nico. “Listen, you’ve got it bad for the guy… So what? If you like the dude, I’m sure not much could go wrong.” Nico stared at him, jaw slack in disbelief and his eyes as lifeless as a corpse. Oh, he came up with several _hundred _ways that this date could go absolutely wrong. “Nico, I can practically hear what you’re thinking.” Jason sighed dramatically before resting a reassuring hand on Nico’s shoulder. “This is the best thing that has happened to you since Will. I know that sounds really stressful and I know that sometimes you fuck up under pressure, but we all do.” Jason said, eyes meeting Nico’s as he blinked. “I’ve stuck around long enough to know that if things don’t work out, then that’s fate. But she’s a bitch, so don’t take it personally if things don’t come out right the first date, yeah?”__

For once, the room was silent. In honesty, Nico was glad to have Jason as a friend. He was certainly a solid 9.5 on a handsome scale (did those exist?), which made Nico mainly feel like a solid 2.6 on a good day (which was kinda shitty and dealt fatal blows to his self-esteem), but overall, Jason worked with Nico. Jason knew about Will, he knew about the anxiety, he knew how to help Nico out of the problems that he didn’t even know how to start to get rid off. He was a valuable friend to have.

A small smile crept onto Nico’s face as he warmed up to the hand on his shoulder. Jason picked up the rubix cube on the ground and set it in front of the brunet, the all-too familiar signal for, “Mix this up for me”. And as Nico twisted the rows and columns of the cube, he thought about Percy and his caramel skin and his jewels for eyes and his tall and lanky body and his extremely prominent Adam’s apple and _god he really has it that bad _. Nico shoved his face into the pillow he had clutched in his grip, thinking that he would rather be abducted by incredibly hostile aliens than face his date tomorrow. His voice was muffled against the pillow when he muttered, “Please kill me.”__

Jason chuckled, clearly amused. “What a drama queen. You’ll live.”

“But-” Nico’s voice sounded almost petrified, hugging the soft cushion to his chest, “What if I die?”

“This is absolutely worst than McDonald’s going out of business,” Jason teased, laughing at a bright-faced Nico.

A few arm swings later, a small red bruise formed on Jason’s head from being hit with a rubix cube.

____

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i had to incorporate the fact tht Uncle Rick posted something about shipping Jason with the brick. So instead of a brick i used a rubix cube bc its the thought tht counts really. <3  
> (also jason is Hella with glasses mhmmhm)


End file.
